"I'm not ashamed of any music I listen to. For better or worse, it all adds up to make me who I am today. I've always had very broad tastes in music. I have had fanatical phases with so many different styles of bands ranging from pop to punk to prog to metal to fusion. (OK, so maybe country music has eluded me.)

"I believe it was Frank Zappa who once said, 'There's only two types of music: good music and bad music' – and I believe that to be true, as well.

"I don't care about labels and genres – I’ve heard plenty of amazing pop, prog and metal, as well as plenty of horrible pop, prog and metal. So I look at this list, these records and bands, along the lines of 'What you didn't know Mike Portnoy likes – and he's not afraid to admit!'"